curtis bias

I bought the ZXL. 8.5 foot 5 wt. - I really like it. It is a very natural rod for me to cast. A friend of mine says that he has spent some time with the 4 wt you are thinking about and described it as "one sweet rod". He mainly fishes Winston rods, and has a buncha' rods that he fools around with from time to time. I can't say if you will like the ZXL or not, but it suits me just fine. I've never cast a better rod.

This is a super nice rod compared to what I have been using. The rod has a nice natural feel to me. If I had to describe it in a word, I would call it smooth. this is a precise casting rod with enough guts to get the fly out where I toss it. I was dropping the line tip into my baseball cap consistently at about 40 to 50 feet while lawn casting this evening. - I think I am going to like this rod very much. Just have to give it a bend test with a few fish to see how sensitive it is, and how it performs when it counts.

Well, I ended up buying the 8.5 foot 5 wt. I'll let you guys and gals know how I get along with it once it arrives (and I catch a few fish with it).

Thanks for the feedback- The price tag is just making me balk a little bit. I've never had a rod over $100 before. I'm just starting to get picky about what I fish with and developing some sense of what I like in a rod.

I'm looking at buying a new rod. My wife will let me spring the coin for a Sage. I've narrowed my choices down to either the Z-Axis or ZXL in a 9 foot 5 wt. configuration. A little background: I fish a St. Croix Triumph 9 ft. 5 wt. from time to time when going after cold water species. I use it for dry flies, nymphing, and casting streamers. If the streamers get heavy, it casts like a dog, but otherwise is a decent rod. I've caught some fish with it. I also fish with a Scientific Anglers 9 ft. 5/6 wt rod that comes with the SA fishing kits. I love this rod for warm water fishing with a 6 wt line. This rod has a slower action than the St. Croix. The St.Croix is listed as a moderate action rod. I think I am enjoying slower action rods more than the faster stuff. I also cast a 8.5 foot 5 wt flight and thought it was a good rod. Felt just right. I just heard that the sensitivity of the rod suffered a little. The guy in the shop recommended a ZXL instead. The price difference is staggering.The Flight is $280 the ZXL is close to $700. I'm fishing for cold water species most often on small rivers. Max casts are maybe 30 yards. Most fishing happens much closer than that. Maybe 20 feet away or less.- What do you guys think? Z-Axis or ZXL? Which stick is going to put the biggest smile on my face?

I wear them. Bought them on sale. I fished in a blizzard in January and have had them out in June. No complaints so far. They keep me dry.- I love them.

What are you asking for the coat? It is my size. As far as trades go, what are you looking for or interested in?

yo!

In my opinion, you may be underpriced on a few of these. Of course, I don't know what people pay for hand crafted fishing nets these days. I do know what people pay for wood, and I do know what shop time costs. I'm guessing that you aren't making any real profit, but are having a good time in the shop.

Those are really nice looking nets. I appreciate your work. I'm a wood working junkie too.

PM or e-mail me a price on that Cabela's RLS2. Thank-you.

I'll be hitting the Little Missori once the weather turns a bit cooler and I can pry myself away from my day job. I heard the fishing there was quite good during the winter months. The guy I talked to said that if you can't catch and release 50 in a day, you aren't a very good fisherman. I feel better now that you guys say you didn't catch much there when you went. - It looks like a nice place to wade fish to me and it is close to my home.

If this is the same rod I am thinking about, they are very nice rods. Even better if you replace the reel seat with something that isn't graphite or plastic. I have two of them. If anyone wants to replace the reel seat, give me a shout. I can tell you exactly how to do it. The reel seat isn't put on the rod in a conventional way.

Do you still have these?

Yeah, but it was a fun trip anyway. I talked to a buddy of mine that is a guide. He also said we should have been farther up on the White if we were after better fishing. By the way, I zeroed too, but I had a good time ahnging out with some great folks.

How's the progress Phillip? It looks great so far. You have a good eye for composition for sure. I like what I am seeing so far.

I'm no longer in the market. Found a 5 wt. that will do the job at a local store that was liquidating their stock of fly fishing gear. Done deal. Thanks folks.

UPDATE: Now Looking for a used 5 to 6 wt. reel with backing and line. Whatchagot?

Thats allright Chris. I was the one dragging my feet.

Hey Chris- I'll take the reel and line. Contact me (private message) with payment details. I can send a US postal service money order to you with no problem. I can also Pay-Pal, but it seems like the fees would eat up some of your profit on this low cost item.-

Looking for a used 6 wt rod and reel. I decided that I liked a 6 wt 9 ft rod after trying a couple of rods and reels that my friends owned the last time out. I'm currently fishing with an old Shakespeare fiberglass rod with an automatic reel. The automatic reel doesn't work any longer. It only spools in line when you grab the drag and twist it. It brings in about a foot of line and then I turn the drag again to pull in another foot of line. It takes a while, but I can spool in the line this way. I can't figure out exactly what is wrong with the reel at this point, so I'm going to junk it. I bought a cheapo Scientific Anglers mid flex 5/6 wt. graphite rod today at Bass Pro for 20 bucks and pulled the reel seat. I have a Redington reel seat that I'll put on it and see if it works OK. What I am really looking for is something used that someone has here that they want to part with. Ideally I could find a matched set up. I already see a couple of reels for sale that look intersting. I also spotted a 5 wt rod and reel that might work for me. I would prefer a 6 wt 9 footer if anyone has one available. If I don't find that I'll pick up the 5 wt I saw in this forum. I'm not looking to spend an arm and a leg. Just looking for somehting to get me out on the water and back in business again. I'm going to sell some guitar equipment that I have on another forum or Ebay to fund the purchase of other fly fishing necessities (waders, fly tying equipment, etc.). Right now I have just enough cash to buy a Hobbs Creek setup from Bass Pro. Its a nice little rod and reel, but I thought I would check here first to see if anyone has something more interesting.

Whats your shipping cost look like to 71118 zip code in Shreveport, Louisiana

I would likely feel guilty for selling an artistic fly for $400. Unless they are big ole' honkin' sculptural things. That might be interesting. Now I make make a few real tiny autistic ones for my own personal use ( no offense intended for those that suffer from autism). One step at a time for this grasshopper. I'm still learning the ropes.

My first fish on the fly. Looks like a minnow to me. Between the three of us, we caught a few rainbows. The catch may not be a big deal to some of you seasoned veterans. To me, it was the start of something big. (I'm not sure how you guys and dolls feel about photos in posts. If the forum ettiquette calls for limited photos to save on bandwidth, I'll be glad to yank the photos. )

I'm dropping in to say hello to all of you fine folks. I am new to fly fishing and don't even own any fly fishing gear other than an old Wal-Mart Fly rod and reel that dates back to the 70s. I tried my hand at fly fishing on our family's pond back when I was about 10 years old. I learned how to cast and roll cast and caught some bream. Fast forward 29 years to 2009. Some good friends of mine invited me to try my hand at fly fishing with them in Arkansas. I jumped at the chance to get together with these good friends and they let me borrow their gear. I just brought along a boat motor so we could hook it up to my friends newly aquired boat. We set out on the White River and enjoyed the scene. We also fished Gunner Pool and Mirror Lake at Blanchard Springs. All I can say is that I had a blast. We caught some rainbow trout and generally had a good time. The result of the experience is that I am certain that I enjoyed the experience enough that I'm going to invest in some fly fishing gear and fly tying equipment. I have been attracted to fly fishing for some time and have enjoyed creating art with fishing themes. Several pieces are fly fishing related. I teach art for a living. Until now, I hadn't had the opportunity to try my hand with more modern equipment than my old Wal-Mart special. The newer equipment seems far more user friendly than the gear I had in the garage. It was easier to get involved with some good company and excellent instruction from my friends. Again, the result is that I had a chance to get my feet wet and decided that fly fishing is good fun. The experience has also added new insight into the sport of fly fishing and will provide new experiences and fuel for my art habit. I'm going to scrape together some cash and sell off a couple of things I have sitting around the house in order to buy some fly fishing equipment. I enjoy building and making all sorts of things and I know that I will enjoy tying my own flies as well. I'm going to lurk around on the forum and see what kind of info I can digest. I look forward to stepping into the dialog once I have something worthwhile to share. For now, I'm just a newbie down in Louisiana. Fly fishing doesn't seem that popular here. At least, I don't see a lot of equipment unless I hit the local Bass Pro Shop. I'll be browsing the ads on this site to try to locate something used at a reasonable rate. I was directed to this site by one of my friends who is at the very least a talented and avid fly fisherman. He is eaten up with it.